Madyson Fitzgerald
@maddyfitz.bsky.social
rva + philly | sims enthusiast | she/her | national content producer @statesnewsroom.com
Data centers are planned on land next to state parks and nature preserves and near lakes, streams and rivers that are considered of “exceptional value”—a gold-star designation given by the state to only the purest waterways and wetlands. From @insideclimatenews.org
Coming to some of Pennsylvania’s most picturesque places: data centers • Pennsylvania Capital-Star
In the Poconos, people fear planned data centers could ruin beloved landscapes and pristine waterways.
penncapital-star.com
In Michigan, former Wayne County health official Abdul El-Sayed and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens are currently neck and neck in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary. Read more primary election results in this morning's edition of Daybreak from @statesnewsroom.com: prod.cdn.everyaction.com/emails/van/S...
Good morning! Thanks for stopping by for our Wednesday edition of Daybreak. We’re starting off with a quick rundown of primary election results from five states.
prod.cdn.everyaction.com
Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey are the first states to enact laws restricting companies from using personal data such as browsing history or shopping habits to set prices on goods and services. stateline.org/2026/08/04/s...
States begin banning ‘surveillance pricing’ that uses personal data to charge more • Stateline
Three states this year became the first ones to enact laws restricting companies from using personal data such as browsing history or shopping habits to set individualized prices on goods and services...
stateline.org
Trump administration admits cancellation of Maryland energy grants was political
Trump administration admits it axed energy grants because Maryland voted against him
Department of Energy attorneys admitted in recent court filings that it cancelled grants, including over $80 million for Maryland projects, based on how states voted in the 2024 presidential election.
buff.ly
America’s protein obsession is helping push U.S. cheese production to record highs, as booming demand for whey reshapes the dairy industry.
America’s obsession with whey protein has a delicious consequence: More cheese
As consumers load up on whey protein, dairy processors are making more cheese and exports are helping absorb the growing supply.
nbcnews.to
More than 9,000 children in foster care had to temporarily stay in hotels, office buildings and other potentially unsafe settings when states couldn’t find suitable places for them, according to a new federal audit. From @stateline.org
Most states temporarily house foster children in hotels, offices • Pennsylvania Capital-Star
More than 9,000 children in foster care had to temporarily stay in hotels, office buildings and other potentially unsafe settings when states couldn’t find suitable places for them, according to a new...
penncapital-star.com
“The Delivery Protection Act is not protecting me or my neighbors, it’s making our lives harder.” The ad was posted by a group called New York Delivers. Amazon supplied almost all the funding for the campaign.
Amazon Bankrolled $5M Campaign Against NYC Delivery Bill
Amazon supplied almost all the funding for a campaign presented as a coalition of New York City workers, small businesses, and national carriers.
nysfocus.com
About 800 low-income immigrant children will lose legal representation in Tennessee as the Trump administration withholds funding from a West Tennessee organization. via @tennesseelookout.com www.newsfromthestates.com/article/agen...
Agency providing legal help to immigrant kids forced to shut doors amid Trump administration cuts
Hundreds of immigrant children in Tennessee will soon lose access to their attorneys as a result of the Trump administration’s decision to withhold legal grant payments and end long-time…
newsfromthestates.com
Today's edition of Daybreak from @statesnewsroom.com covered: - An Alabama death row inmate’s request to stop the state from executing him by lethal injection - South Dakota's first statewide runoff election - Colorado's 150th birthday (and more) Sign up: www.newsfromthestates.com/newsletter/d...
Daybreak | News From The States
Start your day informed with our 50-state snapshot.
newsfromthestates.com
An organization that represents the data center industry is trying to get Georgians to think of the electricity-hungry facilities more favorably. New from @alander.bsky.social.
Pro-data center group launches in Georgia to try to win over critics • Georgia Recorder
A new data center industry group is embarking on a Georgia-focused publicity campaign to improve public opinion of data centers in the state.
georgiarecorder.com
The federal government's abrupt termination of teen pregnancy prevention funding last month means the loss of more than $3 million to Maryland programs, which are trying to see if they can still offer young people programming for without federal support. marylandmatters.org/2026/07/27/c...
Canceled federal grants hit teen pregnancy prevention in Baltimore, rural counties - Maryland Matters
The federal government's abrupt termination of teen pregnancy prevention funding last month means the loss of more than $3 million to Maryland programs, which are trying to see if they can still offer...
marylandmatters.org
Within days of LeBron James’ landmark deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, T-shirt hawkers outside stadiums and along the Jersey Shore were stocked up on unauthorized Sixers gear.
Unauthorized LeBron James merch up for grabs outside Philly’s stadiums and down the Shore
inquirer.com
Consumers know virtually nothing about the farms where their blueberries come from. Until something changes, they won’t be able to make choices that could make a difference in the lives of the people who pick them. by @maxblau.bsky.social
Do My Grocery Store Blueberries Come From Farms Where Workers Were Harmed?
Max Blau spent a year reporting on abuses of farmworkers. It left him wondering: Is the produce he buys at the grocery store part of the problem?
projects.propublica.org
Indiana DNR wetlands program found out of compliance by federal government
Indiana DNR wetlands program found out of compliance by federal government • Indiana Capital Chronicle
Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources has taken in at least $109 million in wetlands payments from landowners but many of the projects supposed to offset disruption have stalled since the…
indianacapitalchronicle.com
From this morning's edition of Daybreak: Attorneys say federal agencies are using children as “bait” to detain sponsors, leaving kids waiting in shelters for months. via @texastribune.org www.texastribune.org/2026/07/21/t...
ICE arresting relatives trying to take custody of migrant kids
Attorneys say the federal agencies are using children as “bait” to detain sponsors, leaving kids waiting in shelters for months.
texastribune.org
Mephisto, by Joaquín Espalter y Rull, 1872, 📸 by Dan Mullan
Despite their oversight role, FCC members have accepted pricey gala tickets from CBS or its parent company, now Paramount. Seven of the 10 commissioners who served since 2016 accepted tickets worth more than $260,000, ProPublica found.
FCC Officials Took Pricey Gifts From Paramount as the Company Needed Approval for Billion-Dollar Deals
Accepting tickets to the Kennedy Center honors gala compromised the commissioners’ impartiality, ethics experts told ProPublica. FCC Chair Brendan Carr has been gifted at least $63,000 worth of ticket...
propublica.org
Only two of 11 new panels directly reference the enslaved people who lived there, and they provide far less information on the brutality American slaves regularly experienced. From @iankarbal.bsky.social
The founder of the Black Journey Philly walking tour on the loss of history at the President’s House • Pennsylvania Capital-Star
Exhibits at the President's House in Philadelphia were replaced with signs experts say downplay the cruelty George Washington’s slaves experienced.
penncapital-star.com
Breaking: A judge dismissed a legal challenge to Virginia's pending reproductive rights constitutional amendment. A lawyer for the plaintiff in the case tells me they intend to appeal. Background from a previous story here: virginiamercury.com/2026/07/03/v...
Virginia’s reproductive rights amendment faces legal challenges over procedural step, language • Virginia Mercury
At the center of Bansley v. Nardo is an argument that the clerk of the House of Delegates, Paul Nardo, failed to send copies of the amendment to circuit court clerks across the state — a longtime requ...
virginiamercury.com
ICYMI: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, issued an executive order that puts a moratorium on the construction of large-scale data centers. The pause, which will last up to a year, is the nation’s first statewide ban on data centers. stateline.org/2026/07/14/n...
New York governor orders first statewide data center moratorium • Stateline
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, issued an executive order Tuesday that puts a moratorium on the construction of large-scale data centers. The pause, which will last up to a year, is the nation...
stateline.org
New York to impose the country’s first statewide moratorium on data centers.
New York to impose the country’s first statewide moratorium on data centers
The order will pause state permitting for new large data centers and direct state regulators to create standards that address environmental impacts, energy demand, water usage and other factors, the g...
nbcnews.com
With just a handful of opposing votes, the commonwealth’s $50.8 billion spending plan for the next year is one step closer to becoming law. After passing in both the state House and Senate on Sunday, it’s headed to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk for his signature.
$50.8 billion compromise budget in Pa. goes to Gov. Shapiro, despite some opposition in both parties • Pennsylvania Capital-Star
Republicans and Democrats reached a budget compromise over the weekend. It spends roughly $2.4 billion less than Shapiro asked for in his February address, and excludes a number of policies he request...
penncapital-star.com
An independent review based on facility visits, hundreds of interviews, and internal prison documents offers scathing new insights into the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. It also offers a roadmap for reform.
New York’s Prison System Can’t Keep Track of Its Own Violence
An independent review found violence, weak oversight, outdated training, and dysfunction across New York’s prison system.
nysfocus.com
250 graffiti artists have each created works that respond to the semiquincentennial, and that includes building a replica of a SEPTA BSL train car.
Long vilified graffiti art finds an unlikely gallery in Suburban Station
inquirer.com
This “good enough” attempt at graphic design…isn’t.
We Are Living in a ‘ChatGPT Flyer Pandemic’
"Hey if this is your flyer, I’m not going, I’m not donating, I’m not sharing. Don’t ask me."
404media.co
The cooling safety net that provides free air conditioners to New Yorkers across the state ran out of funding in June, before summer officially started and ahead of the state’s hottest months. It’s the earliest the money has ever run out.
Extreme Heat Is Rising. New York’s Cooling Aid Isn’t.
New York’s free air conditioner program ran out of funding before summer, even as extreme heat becomes a deadlier threat.
nysfocus.com
An increasing number of Pennsylvanians are concerned about the resource-hungry facilities’ impact on energy prices and water consumption, but there is very little research about potential impacts to physical or public health. From @wdownard.bsky.social
Do data centers impact our physical health? Studies are few and far between. • Pennsylvania Capital-Star
There research into physical health impacts related to data centers is still in its early stages, but seems comparable to other industries.
penncapital-star.com
NEW from @stateline.org: Democrats are seizing the mantle of states’ rights to oppose the agenda of President Donald Trump, who has sought to reset Washington’s relationship with the states. www.newsfromthestates.com/article/demo...
Democrats, Republicans alike focus on states’ rights as a way out of America’s political woes
Democrats are seizing the mantle of states’ rights to oppose the agenda of President Donald Trump, who has sought to reset Washington’s relationship with the states.
newsfromthestates.com
State Medicaid agencies worry that narrowing the definition of “medically frail” could cause many sick and disabled enrollees to lose coverage under new work requirements. https://stateline.org/2026/07/01/states-gird-for-new-medicaid-medically-frail-rule/
States gird for new Medicaid ‘medically frail’ rule • Stateline
State Medicaid agencies are concerned that many sick and disabled enrollees will lose their coverage because the Trump administration is narrowing the definition of who is “medically frail” enough to get an exemption from new work requirements. Under the tax and spending law President Donald Trump signed a year ago, states that have expanded Medicaid […]
stateline.org
